Pain Factor: 10 out of 10
Magpie attacks: 1 attempted (see below)
Cow sightings: They got blow away
Accommodation Highlight: Picnic dinner on the floor using a towel for a rug closely followed by the first night with our own bathroom.
http://www.strava.com/activities/191511913
The warning was there the night before when I received this Facebook post from my cousin in QLD (while I was showing a toilet in Urunga Pub who is boss - yeah you didn't need to know that, but I thought I'd throw that one in).
I can tell you we didn't catch the rain. But we caught the wind. Oh my o my o my did we catch the wind. Headwinds of at least 50km/h, gusting to cyclonic.
I managed to capture this shot in the nick of time. Trust me, it ended badly....
We tracked along the Pacific Highway, following the Nambucca River to Macksville.
Look, I managed to catch a good photo of one of those distance signs in it's native habitat. This one had three legs, no doubt as a result of the in-breeding in this area.....
It was from Macksville that the wind really picked up. We moved onto the Upper Warrell Rd (which again I think is just an old arm of the Pacific Hwy). It was a picturesque run, overlooking the new Pacific Highway. Unfortunately it was hilly. It was exposed. And it was windy. I began to look longingly at the new highway and wondered if that would have been the better option. To rub salt into the wound my chain wrapped around my rear spokes and I spent 10 minutes trying to get it out. Gloves covered with grease, a snotty nose, wind, hills. It was doom and gloom.
...and it did not get better.
For about the last 25km into Kempsey, it was hell. HELL I tell you! For these 25km there was no respite. It is flat with no trees for wind protection. I had to conjure all my mental and physical energy battling the headwind. In calm conditions, I would have been pedalling at about 25Km/h. With the headwind, I was happy if I could maintain 13km/h. It was darn right depressing the amount of energy I was using only to go so slow.
- The gusts were so strong, sometimes I came to a complete standstiil.
- Shouting vile obscenities at the wind did not seem to help.
- I actually enjoyed the moments a truck passed as they created about a 0.67 second respite from the wind
- A magpie attempted an attack from downwind. The only moment I managed to half crack a smile when it was obvious it's aerial assault was doomed to fail - it could not even fly to me!
- I actually had to stop and recompose myself I was sooooo frustrated. I grabed a banana - it wasn't ripe yet. You know when half the peel stays on the banana. I tossed it into the wind in disgust.
Eventually I made it to Kempsey, where Santo was waiting for me at the McDonald's. I arrived, literally ignored him and matched straight inside for a coffee and muffin. I inhaled those and lay exhausted on the hard Macca's bench.
"We're staying here" I declared. I think deep inside even Super Santo was happy to pull up stumps. While I had some energy left, the amount we were burning to conquer the headwind was a waste. Unfortunately this put us back to par, as the wind took back the 30 odd extra kilometers we stole the day before. Kempsey was where we were scheduled to be tonight.
Again, the first pub with accommodation was suitable. Time had surely forgotten this place, but I must say the hospitality was great. Here we are trying to fit in at the local bar. We were quite aroused by their fine collection of old planers.
We had our own bathroom, but I don't know what I liked more - the stainless steel recess or the boogy-green tiles on the bathroom wall, which were, albeit for a very short period, very hip in a time gone past... I assume.
I'm sorry for the quality of this photo - but here here is our picnic dinner, cheese, dips, chips (and the whips came out later). Keep in mind that this was on the floor of a pub accommodation room - so the towel/rug was an invaluable accessory.We gorged liked kings and it was a good recovery from an extremely tough day's riding.
<Sigh>ning off,
Justin.
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